Trump warns residents of Iran's capital to evacuate 'immediately'

Euronews

6 hours ago

US President Donald Trump has warned residents of the Iranian capital, Tehran, to immediately evacuate, hinting at a possible major Israeli bombardment as the conflict between the two countries intensifies.
Trump again reiterated that this conflict would not have broken out had Iran signed a nuclear deal, stating that their inability to do so has led to a the loss of human life.
'Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life,' said Trump in a post on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
'Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!,' added Trump.
Israel on Monday warned some 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate ahead of airstrikes. Israeli forces then struck an Iranian state-run broadcaster during a live broadcast.
It's the fifth day of conflict between Israel and Iran. Both countries have intensified their strikes on each other in recent days, with exchanges of missiles resulting in dozens of casualties between the two countries.
The conflict started when Israel moved to strike multiple targets in Iran, including nuclear and military sites in a surprise attack in the early hours of Friday. The first wave of attacks also eliminated top Iranian officials, including the armed forces' chief of staff, Mohammed Bagheri, and head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corp, Hossein Salami.
Israel says the decision to attack Iran was 'pre-emptive self-defence', as it expressed concerns over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme. Israel has repeatedly warned of the threat an Iran equipped with a nuclear weapon would pose on its very survival.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Monday that the strikes have set Iran's nuclear program back 'years" and said he is in touch daily with Trump.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Israeli air defence systems sounded for a short period of time as more Iranian strikes were anticipated.
The Israeli army issued an air raid warning just after midnight local time for residents of Tel Aviv and the southern city of Beersheva. The alert was quickly dropped however, with the army confirming that residents are free to leave shelters and protective spaces nationwide.
Iran's Foreign Minister and chief nuclear deal negotiator Abbas Araghchi says Israel's attacks on his country deal a huge blow to diplomacy. The comments were made during a call with his French, British and German counterparts.
Iran signed a nuclear deal in 2015 with these three countries, along with the EU, US, China and Russia. Washington later unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 under Trump's first term in office.
Meanwhile, the US says it's deploying 'additional capabilities' to bolster its defences in the Middle East. The announcement was made by US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth in a post on social media platform X.
'Over the weekend, I directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility,' said Hegseth.
'Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,' he added.
An Iranian state television reporter had to stop a live broadcast on Monday when an explosion occurred an hour after Israel issued a warning to evacuate the area of Tehran where the TV studios are located.
Smoke was seen rising from at least three sites in the Iranian capital.
The reporter for the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network said the studio was filling with dust after "the sound of aggression against the homeland, the sound of aggression against truth and righteousness."
Anchor Sahar Emami rushed off-camera as the screen behind her cut out and people were heard saying "Allahu akbar," Arabic for God is great.
The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programmes. Later, state TV aired live video of the building on fire.
Soon, Emami came back live from another studio and was seen speaking with another anchor. She said that "bodies of reporters" were at the site of the initial broadcast, and images showed smoke and flames in the sky.
Israel's defence minister Israel Katz took credit for the attack as he called it a strike on the "propaganda broadcast authority."
"The Iranian regime's propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of the area's residents. We will strike the Iranian dictator everywhere," he said in a statement.
An hour earlier, the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning affecting up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country's state TV and police headquarters, as well as three major hospitals.
In response to the attack, Iran also issued evacuation warnings for Israeli news channels, Iranian state TV reported.
The attack came on the fourth day of the escalating conflict, as the IDF claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats.